(Click to enlarge photo of Sri Londonisvara, the Supreme Controller of London.)

"Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, if He is pleased upon somebody, nobody can annihilate him. Similarly, if He is angry upon somebody, nobody can protect him. There is a Bengali, prayer, rākhe kṛṣṇa māre ke, māre kṛṣṇa rākhe ke. If Kṛṣṇa wants to kill somebody... Kṛṣṇa does not kill, neither the living entity is ever killed. Just like father. If he chastises his son, it is not chastisement; it is favor. The devotees can understand that even sometimes we meet very reverse condition of life, it is also favor. Tat te 'nukampāṁ su-samīkṣamāṇaḥ (SB 10.14.8). Anyone who can see that this unfavorable condition of life is also another favor of Kṛṣṇa... Tat te 'nukampāṁ su-samīkṣamāṇaḥ. 'Even there is some suffering, it is not given by Kṛṣṇa. I am suffering on account of my past misdeeds, and Kṛṣṇa is so kind that I would have suffered many hundred thousand times more than the present suffering, but Kṛṣṇa is adjusting the whole thing by little suffering.' This is the vision of devotee. Tat te 'nukampāṁ su-samīkṣamāṇo bhuñjana evātma-kṛtaṁ vipākam. Ātma-kṛtaṁ vipākam. A devotee never accuses Kṛṣṇa, that 'Kṛṣṇa, I am serving You so nicely, and You are giving me so much suffering.' No. This is not devotee's view. Devotee will take that 'This so-called suffering is also Kṛṣṇa's favor.' Tat te 'nukampāṁ su-samīkṣamāṇaḥ. So those who are going forward with Kṛṣṇa consciousness, they should not be, I mean, a debtor to any condition of life."

(Srila Prabhupada Lecture, Mayapur, February 8, 1976)

"The Yamadūtas were surprised: 'How is that? Some four-handed, very good looking persons came and checked our duty.' So therefore Yamarāja said that 'The devotees are protected from the Yamadūtas, by the men of Yamarāja.' Mattaś ca, martyān atha sarvataś ca. Therefore a devotee has nothing to fear. He is protected from the attack of enemies, from the attack of Yamadūtas. How is that? There are many hundreds and thousands of instances -- Prahlāda Mahārāja, Haridāsa Ṭhākura...

But don't think that a devotee will not have enemies. A devotee may have anything. Oh, he may be attacked by enemies. He may be attacked with severe type of diseases and so many things. But he will be protected. That is the difference between a devotee and a nondevotee. A nondevotee is neglected. That is stated by Prahlāda Mahārāja, that people may discover so many antibiotics or antiseptics for giving protection, or 'anti' measures, but unless he is given protection by Kṛṣṇa, all those 'anti' devices will not protect, help him. That is certain.

Therefore we should take protection only of Kṛṣṇa. Otherwise, our all protective measures will fail. Rāvaṇa..., when Rāvaṇa was attacked by Rāmacandra... He was a great devotee of Lord Śiva, so he began to pray. Because life and death question, he was praying to Lord Śiva, 'Please save me. I have served you so much.' Rāvaṇa was so great devotee of Lord Śiva that he sometimes cut his head and offered to Lord Śiva. So... And Śiva was thinking very deeply what to do.

And Pārvatī was requesting that 'You're such a great devotee, he is in danger, and he is asking your help, and you are sitting idly? You are doing nothing? How is that?' Lord Śiva replied that 'It is not possible to protect him. It is not possible for me.' So as a woman, sympathetic, she came out, and that 'If you cannot protect, then I shall go and protect Rāvaṇa.' But she also could not protect. Therefore there is a... It is a verse, māre kṛṣṇa rākhe ke: 'If Kṛṣṇa desires to kill somebody, nobody can protect.' And rākhe kṛṣṇa māre ke: 'And if Kṛṣṇa protects somebody, nobody can kill.' This is the process."

(Srila Prabhupada Lecture, Gorakhpur, February 12, 1971)

"When death will come, nobody can check. Death is God. When Kṛṣṇa desires that 'This man should be killed now,' or 'He must die now,' nobody can check. Rākhe kṛṣṇa mare ke mare kṛṣṇa rākhe ke. If Kṛṣṇa desires to kill somebody, nobody can give him protection -- no power. And if He wants to save somebody, nobody can kill him. This is Kṛṣṇa's protection.

Therefore this big, big commander-in-chief Dronācārya and Bhīṣmadeva, Karṇa, they were very, very big, powerful commanders. Arjuna was nothing before them. Arjuna was just like... Parīkṣit Mahārāja compared that 'My grandfather was just like an ordinary fish, and these soldiers, these commanders, just like timiṅgala.' Timiṅgala, there is a fish -- we get information from Vedic literature -- very big fish. They swallow up the whales. Timi. Timi means whale fish. And timiṅgala means... Just like small fish are swallowed up like this. So just imagine how big such fish is. So these commanders, Karṇa, Dronācārya and Bhīṣma, were compared with the timiṅgala. And Arjuna, although very powerful, he was compared with timi. So Parīkṣit Mahārāja admitted that 'It was not possible for my grandfather to win over the battle before these big, big commanders. It is only by the grace of Kṛṣṇa he was saved.'

So the conclusion is if Kṛṣṇa saves, nobody can kill; and if Kṛṣṇa wants to kill, nobody can save. Therefore our conclusion should be that we should always be under the protection of Kṛṣṇa. Avaśya rakṣibe kṛṣṇa. This is śaraṇāgati. Śaraṇāgati, surrender. Surrender means that 'I am surrendering to Kṛṣṇa with full faith that He is quite competent and able to give me protection.' This is called surrender.

Not that hesitation: 'Oh, I will surrender to Kṛṣṇa, and in case of danger, He may not be able to give me protection.' That is not surrender. With full faith: 'Yes, Kṛṣṇa is so powerful, Kṛṣṇa is so great, that I am surrendering to Kṛṣṇa from this day... From this day... Kṛṣṇa, I was wandering throughout the universe life after life, without knowing my relationship with You. Now, today, I surrender unto You. Kindly accept me and engage me in Your service.' This is called surrender."

(Srila Prabhupada Lecture, London, July 9, 1973)

"So the examples are given by Prahlāda Mahārāja: bālasya neha śaraṇaṁ pitarau nṛsiṁha (SB 7.9.19). 'My Lord, Nṛsiṁha-deva, the parents of children, they are not actually protector of the children.' Because generally we think that 'This child, this boy, has got his father, mother; he is well protected.' No. That father and mother... Every father and mother wants to protect the child, but still, the child has to meet some danger and dies. There are so many experience. Similarly, bālasya neha śaraṇaṁ pitarau nṛsiṁha. The father, mother is a counteraction for the dangers of the child. But Prahlāda Mahārāja said, 'No, they are not counteraction.' It is not that if a child is in danger, because the father and mother is very strong, very rich, he will be able to give protection to the child. No. That is not possible.

Then nārtasya cāgadam. The medicine... A person is suffering from some disease, some fatal disease. If you think, 'I shall engage first-class physician and I shall supply first-class medicine,' if you think, 'then the patient will be saved,' no, that is not possible. That is not possible. We have got many experiences like that. Then no rich man would have died. Because he has got money, he can employ first-class physician, first-class medicine, and simply by engaging such things, counteracting, pratikāram, he cannot be saved. There are many examples like that. So the conclusion is, tāvad vibho tanu-bhṛtāṁ tvad-upekṣitānām (SB 7.9.19): 'If You neglect, if You have decided that this person, this child cannot be saved, then any amount of pratikāram will not help. Will not help.'

Therefore real pratikāram is Kṛṣṇa. Real pratikāram is Kṛṣṇa, counteractive. So better we take shelter of Kṛṣṇa as Kṛṣṇa says, sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja (BG 18.66). You must always know that no counteraction will be beneficial for us unless we are protected by Kṛṣṇa.

So therefore our business is fully surrender to Kṛṣṇa and seek His protection. Kṛṣṇa says, 'Yes,' ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo mokṣayiṣyāmi, 'I shall give you protection.' This is Bhagavad-gītā philosophy. We have to believe on the assertion of Kṛṣṇa that 'He is prepared to give me all protection, provided I have fully surrendered unto His lotus feet.'"

(Srila Prabhupada Lecture, London, August 1, 1973)

"So don't be lost of your knowledge. Stick to Kṛṣṇa and accept His words as it is. Then you will be one day fearless, abhayaṁ sattva-saṁśuddhiḥ (BG 16.1). Your existence will be purified, spiritual existence. Purified existence means spiritual existence. We are spiritual; we are not this material. Just like I am not this shirt, you are not this shirt. You are within the shirt. Similarly, asmin dehe. Dehino 'smin yathā dehe. Dehino 'smin yathā dehe (BG 2.13). We are within the shirt. This is the first knowledge, that 'I am not this body. Why I shall be puffed up with this body? This is superfluous. I am spirit soul. I am part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa; therefore my only business is with Kṛṣṇa.' Just like your hand, part and parcel of your body. Its only business is with this body. I am taking care of this body, I am taking care of this hand, this leg, this head because there is intimate relationship with this body and with this head. I am not... Suppose if you are in danger, your head is in danger, I am not going to protect. But when my head is in danger, I am prepared to give life.

Similarly, we are part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa, and Kṛṣṇa is all-powerful. He says, 'I will give you protection.' Just like I am giving protection to my hands and legs, so what about Kṛṣṇa? Kṛṣṇa also prepared. But if you deny His protection, that is a different thing. But if you are prepared to take His protection, ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyaḥ, then you should immediately attain abhayam, no more fear. Rākhe kṛṣṇa māre ke māre kṛṣṇa rākhe ke: 'If Kṛṣṇa wants to kill you, who can save you? Nobody can save you. And if Kṛṣṇa wants to protect you, who can kill you?' This is... This is philosophy, abhayam. So if you want to be fearless, if you want to sanctify your existence, take to Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Don't be deviated."

(Srila Prabhupada Lecture, Honolulu, January 29, 1975)

"Mare krsna rakhe ke rakhe krsna mare ke. If Krsna protects, who can kill? And, if Krsna kill, who can protect? So, if we are sincere servants, then Krsna will give us protection. Who can kill us? This Bombay land, such a huge attempt was made to kill us. Now we are the owner of this huge property. We were going to be driven out, now we are the richest men. In Bombay nobody has got such property."

(Srila Prabhupada Letter, December 26, 1976)

"You have asked about whether nuclear devastation on this planet would effect the Sankirtan Movement. No, there is nothing that can stop the Sankirtan Movement because it is the will of God Himself, Lord Caitanya, that His Holy Name be heard in every town and village. Neither can the demons devastate this planet independent of the will of Krsna. Nothing happens without His sanction. If Krsna wants to kill someone no one can save Him, and if Krsna wants to save someone no one can kill him. For our parts we should just be determined to carry out our mission against all opposition, demons, nuclear war, whatever. The whole universe is finally subject to certain annihilation by the will of Krsna, but devotional service is eternal and is the only certain way one can save himself from devastation. We can preach all over the world that the only way to be saved from collective and individual devastation is to take to the chanting of Hare Krsna. In short, this material world is a very precarious place therefore we should always chant Hare Krsna and seek Krsna's protection."

(Srila Prabhupada Letter, June 22, 1973)

"So we should not be afraid. Because this place is dangerous, we should expect always danger. But if we are faithful to Krishna, if we simply, I mean to say, expect help from Krishna, then Krishna will save you."